Collective & Transgenerational Trauma in Uruguay
Lab Cycle Oct 2020 - July 2021 Report
Facilitators
Giselle Charbonnier & Laura Pallares
Trainees
Cecilia Rado, Gisela Menni & Laura Pastorini
LANGUAGE
Spanish
Description
Through this series of gatherings, we met with a group of people from Uruguay who, for the most part, did not know each other from before, and witnessed them coming to a sense of belonging and coherence. Practicing the skill of ”feeling together” was a constant invitation from us, as a key resource to process and look beyond the polarized and excluded narratives. We compiled relevant information into a timeline and, when we felt the group was resourced enough, we invited a visual artist to do a graphic recording while we read the timeline. We invited participants to read the points which were most alive for them while the graphic recording was being done. The result was a powerful mandala with many dimensions and connections also beyond Uruguay. We feel there was a high level of group coherence to go through hyper-activation, numbing or collapsing, while we collectively processed our history of trauma, as well as presenced current events such as the pandemic.
We started out with a group of 32 participants and completed with 27 participants. We met for eight sessions, from November 25th, 2020 to June 23rd, 2021. We also held 3 extra practice sessions for participants to acquire the skills of Transparent Communication.
We explored the following questions:
- The genocide of native peoples, slavery, immigration, colonialism, land appropriation, independence wars, civil wars, dictatorships, and emigration.
- The many ways in which these topics influence our cultural architecture and social and economic structures, such as Uruguay’s place in the global financial architecture.
- The way in which these wounds influence the construction of identity and the process of ‘othering’ and polarization in Uruguay according to ethnicity, social privileges and structural injustice
- How historical trauma and “othering” is reproduced by a current wave of Latin American immigrants.
- Our cultural shadow agreements, how they are expressed or denied in our use of language, and how they reinforce the consequences of specific traumas.
- Possibilities for coherent we-spaces, social structures, and institutions which could foster the integration and healing of collective trauma.
Due to the intensity of the material we were delving in, and the limited time we had, we could not look in depth at the current COVID-19 trauma, but we acknowledged its signs and burning presence.
Stages of our process as a group:
Moments of Challenge
- While presenting the timeline for the first time, we suddenly felt the need to pause due to the intense activation that this caused. We felt that more time was needed for digestion and we felt that the group was still not prepared and coherent enough to hold this intensity of trauma. At this point we felt the need to prioritize the reality of the group field over the suggested sequence.
- In the following session we, the facilitators, experienced a growing dynamic of polarization, until we realized we were being influenced by the polarization of the collective trauma field of Uruguay. We then decided to share this insight with the group and, from that moment on, we could move together with ease from a common ground. As a result, we ended up having a powerful process with the whole group. Having been able to see, integrate, and transcend this dynamic was an important learning milestone for both of us facilitators.
MOMENTS OF GRACE
We had many moments of grace in the collective presence of the whole group, with deep silence and stillness, and in our team meetings with our collaborators who have extraordinary human qualities as well as high skills and experience. Below are some that stood out:
- While reading the timeline, when we came to the point of the first conqueror, Juan Diaz de Solis, reaching our shores, the person who felt called to speak about this stopped for a deep moment of silence and then just said “we killed him”. There was a strong impact and resonance felt in the group, to see ourselves as “we” together with our native people, and to acknowledge the perpetrator aspects in all of us. We feel this paved the path to be able to start healing the othering, and feel our interbeing with all perpetrators. This felt like an important step for the integration and transcendence of our internal polarities.
- We experienced profound and strong moments when participants exposed very intense and vulnerable inner places and biographical experiences. We could feel how healing it was for them to be able to open themselves and be received with compassion in a non-judgemental space, and for the group to part-take in this intensity and feel itself as a mature, coherent container.
- The graphic representation allowed us to acknowledge the complex, multidimensional and intertwined layers of the collective trauma, and its paths towards healing. Moving from words to visual representation provided a powerful integrative healing movement on its own, opening a door for new integrations to be felt and made explicit by many participants.
INSIGHTS
Insights about Collective Trauma in Uruguay
- The power of local nature: native forests, rivers and stones as resources, and the relations these can have with the strength and resilience of our people.
- The magnitude of the genocide of the native people, especially aggravated by them having been betrayed by the local leaders they had fought for, and the deep impact this still has on our society today.
- The depth and width of muteness and distrust subjacent in the social field. Our hearts felt expanded when we decided to name and make space to listen to these muted voices and the vastness of their suppression.
- The impact of repeated interventions of external powers creating internal division, resulting in extreme polarization which still affects our society today.
Insights about the process
- We were careful with regards to following the suggested sequence in this healing process. It was an important reminder for us to stay loyal to our own sense of the pulse of collective fields, and the need to strengthen group coherence and resourcing in a way that was proportional to the high levels of activation we are addressing.
- Our most powerful realization or confirmation was to find ourselves, as a facilitation team, involved in the collective trauma field without being able, for some time, to recognize how we were literally being impacted by its dynamics. The fact that we were initially unaware of this was a powerful wake-up call to the importance of being attentive to these dynamics.
Our Lab Team
Giselle Charbonnier
Laura Pallares
Gisela Menni
Laura Pastorini
Trauma Colectivo y Transgeneracional en Uruguay
Facilitadoras: Giselle Charbonnier & Laura Pallares; Colaboradoras: Cecilia Rado, Gisela Menni, Laura Pastorini
Idioma: Español
Nuestra intención es empezar a construir los cimientos de un campo coherente para la exploración del trauma colectivo en Uruguay. A través de reuniones mensuales nos gustaría:
Conectar con, y escuchar el campo de la historia del trauma en Uruguay.
Obtener una sensación de la arquitectura interna del cuerpo herido de la tierra y su gente.
Dibujar una línea de tiempo de los principales eventos que contribuyen a la arquitectura de este cuerpo de trauma.
Identificar y conectar con sus recursos: naturaleza, arte, cultura, etc.
Empezar a construir un recipiente colectivo coherente que pueda albergar un proceso de curación.
Incorporar las herramientas de las enseñanzas de Thomas Hübl en el colectivo.
Estaremos explorando
- ¿Cuáles son los antecedentes históricos del trauma transgeneracional y colectivo en Uruguay, incluyendo el genocidio de los pueblos nativos, la alteración del medio ambiente con la introducción masiva de ganado exótico, la esclavitud, la inmigración, el colonialismo, la apropiación de tierras, las guerras de independencia, las guerras civiles y las dictaduras, así como la emigración?
- ¿Cómo influyen en la arquitectura cultural el genocidio, la esclavitud, las guerras y la inmigración como trauma colectivo y transgeneracional? ¿Puede trazarse la arquitectura cultural del colonialismo en otras estructuras sociales y económicas, como el lugar que ocupa el Uruguay en la arquitectura financiera mundial?
- ¿Cómo influye el trauma colectivo y transgeneracional en la construcción de la identidad y el proceso de “alteridad” en Uruguay en función de la etnia, los privilegios sociales y la injusticia estructural? ¿Cómo se reproducen los traumas históricos y el proceso de “alteridad” a medida que nuestra sociedad se amplía con una nueva ola de inmigrantes latinoamericanos?
- ¿Cuáles son los acuerdos sociales en la sombra en el Uruguay? ¿Cómo se expresan o se niegan en nuestro uso del lenguaje y cómo refuerzan las consecuencias de eventos traumáticos?
- ¿Cómo se manifiesta el trauma en tiempos de crisis (Covid-19, emergencias climáticas)?
- ¿Podemos crear colectivamente un modelo de espacios coherentes que puedan apoyar la integración y la curación de traumas colectivos en Uruguay?
Nos gustaría que los participantes se comprometan a
- Asistir a las reuniones mensuales durante los primeros 8 meses;
- Hacer algunos trabajos previos al comienzo del laboratorio, incluyendo:
- Auto-reflexión en algunas preguntas específicas como: ¿Cómo participo en la integración de este trauma y cómo lo perpetúo?; ¿Cómo han participado mis antepasados en este trauma?; ¿Cómo participo en la integración?; ¿Cómo se entrelaza mi privilegio o falta de privilegio con este trauma?
- Si es posible, sugerimos tomar el Programa de Comunicación Transparente de Thomas Hübl (programa virtual a ritmo propio, de 16 horas de duración) y/o participar en uno de los 2 Grupos de Comunicación Transparente disponibles en español (Grupo Uruguayo o Grupo Internacional en línea)
- Tener una práctica contemplativa constante durante todo el tiempo que dure el laboratorio
- Tener los recursos para apoyar su trabajo personal a medida que ocurran posibles desencadenantes
- Trabajo en tríada entre las sesiones
- Asegúrese de estar libre de la influencia de las drogas.
- Asuma confidencialidad – toda la información personal que se comparta dentro de este laboratorio se mantendrá confidencial y no se compartirán los nombres de otros participantes, ni se les describirá fuera del espacio del laboratorio.
- Asuma su propia responsabilidad por su salud – este laboratorio no proporciona un espacio de terapia o tratamiento alguno.
Tamaño máximo del grupo: 30 participantes
Horario: 16 a 18 hs (Hora Uruguay)
Fechas de las reuniones: Un miércoles al mes: 25 de Noviembre | 16 de Diciembre | 27 de Enero | 3 de Marzo | 7 de Abril | 28 de Abril | 26 de Mayo | 23 de Junio
Invitados específicos:
- Participantes que han hecho un trabajo personal o trabajo sobre trauma significativo y que tienen una base sólida para construir la exploración colectiva del trauma.
- Personas de diferentes campos para combinar la inteligencia en esta exploración (es decir, terapeutas, científicos del trauma, artistas, educadores, empresarios sociales…)
- Nos gustaría tener representación de las diferentes regiones del país entre los participantes y también tener diversidad de raza, género, orientación sexual, edad, religión y antecedentes culturales.
Equipo de laboratorio
Giselle Charbonnier
es Coach, Terapeuta Psicosomática y de Trauma, Facilitadora de Constelaciones Familiares y Consultora en Programación Neurolingüística y Psicología Transpersonal con más de 20 años de experiencia profesional, y más de 25 años de práctica sostenida de yoga y meditación. Dirige talleres y entrenamientos y trabaja en privado con individuos a nivel internacional. Es mentora y asistente en los entrenamientos Timeless Wisdom dirigidos por Thomas Hübl y formó parte del equipo de asistentes del entrenamiento Pocket Project. Habiendo trabajado durante 10 años como arquitecta, en 2003, decidió seguir un profundo llamado interior a dedicarse de lleno a trabajar con modalidades de vanguardia para sanar traumas personales y colectivos, pero su amor por la arquitectura sigue encontrando expresión en su capacidad para pensar sistémicamente y trabajar con estructuras y situaciones complejas. Nacida en Uruguay, desde hace muchos años recorre el mundo por motivos de trabajo y perfeccionamiento profesional, y hoy tiene su hogar en la comunidad de Findhorn, Escocia.
Laura Pallares
es terapeuta de Experiencia Somática, facilitadora de Constelaciones Sistémicas y practicante de Teatro de la Presencia Social. Desde 2014 integra la comunidad de Thomas Hübl y participa en cursos y festivales. Es asistente del Grupo de Práctica de Comunicación Transparente en su país, Uruguay, y traduce material de Thomas Hübl al español, especialmente para las redes sociales. Estudió antropología y ha trabajado como periodista, traductora y editora en temas de desarrollo.
Cecilia Rado
Soy facilitadora y consultora sistémica en procesos de transformación con grupos, organizaciones y comunidades. Licenciada en Sociología y trabajo Social, soy especialista en desarrollo territorial y formada- experiente en teorías y metodologías sistémicas para la transformación humana en colectivos (investigación-acción, psicodrama grupal, coaching gestáltica en grupos y organizaciones, constelaciones sistémicas organizacionales, teoría U y SPT) Nutren mi experiencia las oportunidades que he tenido de vivir, disfrutar y contribuir en distintos mundos: el campo y la ciudad, las ONGS y comunidades, la academia, el Estado y las políticas públicas, la empresa y el camino espiritual. Camino en familia y en pareja y soy mamá. En mi quehacer, uno mundos, y contribuyo a recordar-me que todo está unido… para la Paz.
Gisela Menni
Licenciada en Sociología, Magister en Políticas Públicas, Desarrollo Social y Gestión Educativa, especialización en Intervención Familiar, Género, Primera Infancia; y en Gestión Cultural y Comunicación. Trabajó durante más de 10 años en la gestión en políticas sociales y formación de equipos para la intervención social en pobreza extrema, infancia, adolescencia y familia, tanto en organismos públicos nacionales como internacionales. Es Terapeuta en Experiencia Somática (ES), en Modelo de Autorregulación Somática (aplicada a niños), Brainspotting, Trauma (Bessel van der Kolk), y Constelaciones Familiares. Docente universitaria y autora de ABRE “Autorregulación para el Bienestar y la Resiliencia Educativa. Experiencia Somática aplicada al aprendizaje”. Imparte seminarios sobre Habilidades Socioemocionales.
Laura Pasotrini
Laura es Antropóloga Social y Visual, Master en Salud Mental para Ciencias Sociales, con estudios en Semiótica, Lingüística, Fenomenología y Epistemología. Instructora y formadora en diferentes metodologías corporales para el Desarrollo Humano, con más de 30 años de experiencia, así como en Terapia Sistémica y Constelaciones Familiares, es Master Trainer en Constelaciones Organizacionales por Infosyon. Es Practicante Avanzada, Docente Internacional e Investigadora Académica en Teoría U y Teatro de Presencia Social, y forma parte del Equipo Estratégico y del staff de consultores y facilitadores del Presencing Institute. Trabaja como Consultora Sistémica, Docente y Coach, integrando las inteligencias de “cabeza, corazón y manos”.
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Collective & Transgenerational Trauma in Uruguay
Facilitators: Giselle Charbonnier & Laura Pallares; Collaborators: Cecilia Rado, Gisela Menni, Laura Pastorini
Language: Spanish
Our intention is to start building the foundation of a coherent field for collective trauma exploration in Uruguay. Through monthly gatherings we would like to: Connect and listen to the field of trauma history in Uruguay; Get a felt sense of the inner architecture of the wounded body of the land and its people; Draw a timeline of main events contributing to the architecture of this trauma body; Identify and connect to its resources: nature, art, culture, etc.; Start building a coherent collective vessel that can host a healing process; Embed capabilities from Thomas Hübl’s teachings into the collective vessel
We will be exploring
- What is the historical background of transgenerational and collective trauma in Uruguay, including native peoples’ genocide, environmental alteration with massive exotic cattle introduction, slavery, immigration, colonialism, land appropriation, independence wars, civil wars and dictatorships, as well as emigration?
- How do genocide, slavery, wars and immigration as collective and transgenerational trauma influence the cultural architecture? Can the cultural architecture of colonialism be traced in other social and economic structures such as Uruguay’s place in the global financial architecture?
- How does transgenerational and collective trauma influence the construction of identity and the process of ‘othering’ in Uruguay according to ethnicity, social privileges and structural injustice? How is historical trauma and “othering” reproduced as our society is enlarged by a new wave of Latin American immigrants?
- What are the social shadow agreements in Uruguay? How are they expressed or denied in our use of language and how does it reinforce the consequences of specific traumas?
- How does trauma show itself in times of crisis (Covid-19, climate emergencies)?
- Can we collectively create a model for coherent we-spaces that can support the integration and healing of collective trauma in Uruguay?
Participants are asked to commit to
- Attend the monthly gatherings for the first 8 months;
- Do some pre-work upfront the beginning of the lab including:
- Self-reflect on some specific questions like: How do I participate in the integration of this trauma and how do I perpetuate it?; How have my ancestors participated in this trauma? How do I participate in othering?; How is my privilege or lack of privilege entwined with this trauma?
- (If possible) Take the Transparent Communications Program with Thomas (self-paced virtual program, 16hrs long) and/or participate in one of the 2 Transparent Communication Groups available in Spanish (Uruguayan Group or International Online Group)
- Have a consistent contemplative practice throughout the duration of the lab
- Have the resources to support their personal work as the triggers arise
- Triad work between the sessions
- Ensure to be free from the influence of drugs.
- Assume confidentiality – all personal sharing within this Lab will be kept confidential and names of other participants will not be shared, nor will they be described.
- Assume self-responsibility for your health – this Lab does not provide therapy or treatment.
Max. group size: 30
Time: 4pm – 6pm UYT
Dates: One Wednesday a month; November 25th | December 16th | January 27th | March 3rd | April 7th | April 28th | May 26th | June 23rd
Specifically invited:
- We would like to invite participants that have done significant personal/trauma work and have a solid base to build the collective trauma exploration.
- We would also like to invite people from different fields to combine intelligence in this exploration (i.e. therapists, trauma scientists, artists, educators, social entrepreneurs…)
- We would welcome having representation of the different regions of the country amongst participants and as well having diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion and cultural backgrounds.
Lab Team
Giselle Charbonnier
is a Coach, Psycho-Somatic and Trauma Therapist, Family Constellations Facilitator, and Neuro Linguistic Programming and Transpersonal Psychology Consultant with over 20 years of professional experience, and over 25 years of sustained yoga and meditation practice. She leads workshops and trainings, and works privately with individuals internationally. She was part of the Pocket Project Training assistant’s team, and she is assistant and mentor at the Timeless Wisdom Trainings led by Thomas Hübl. Having worked as an Architect for over 10 years, in 2003, she decided to follow a deeper calling to work full time with leading-edge modalities to heal personal and collective trauma, yet her love for architecture still finds expression in her capacity to think systemically and to deal with complex structures and issues. Born in Uruguay, since many years she travels extensively for work and further training, and now has her home in the community of Findhorn, Scotland.
Laura Pallares
is a Somatic Experiencing therapist, a Systemic Constellation facilitator, and a Social Presencing Theater practitioner. Since 2014 she has been an active member of Thomas Hübl’s community, participating in courses and festivals. She assists as facilitator of a Transparent Communication Practice Group in her home country, Uruguay, and translates Thomas Hübl’s material into Spanish, mainly for Social Media. She studied Anthropology and worked as a journalist, translator and editor in the field of development.
Cecilia Rado
I am a facilitator and systemic consultant in transformation processes with groups, organizations and communities.I have a degree in Sociology and Social Work, I am a specialist in territorial development, and I am trained in systemic theories and methodologies for human transformation in collectives (action research, group psychodrama, gestalt coaching in groups and organizations, systemic organizational constellations, U theory and SPT). My experience is nourished by the opportunities I have had to live, enjoy and contribute in different worlds: the countryside and the city, NGOs and communities, academia, the State and public policy, business and the spiritual path. I walk as a family and as a couple and I am a mother. In my work, we are one world, and I contribute to remembering that everything is united… for Peace.
Gisela Menni
Has a degree in Sociology, Master in Public Policy, Social Development and Educational Management, specialization in Family Intervention, Gender, Early Childhood; and Cultural Management and Communication. She has worked for over 10 years in social policy management and team building for social intervention in extreme poverty, childhood, adolescence and family, both in national and international public organizations. She is a therapist in Somatic Experience (ES), in Somatic Self-Regulation Model (applied to children), Brainspotting, Trauma (Bessel van der Kolk), and Family Constellations. University teacher and author of ABRE “Self-Regulation for Well-being and Educational Resilience. Somatic experience applied to learning”. She gives seminars on Socio-Emotional Skills.
Laura Pasotrini
Laura is a Social and Visual Anthropologist, Master in Mental Health for Social Sciences, with studies in Semiotics, Linguistics, Phenomenology and Epistemology. Trained in and instructor of different embodied methodologies for Human Development, with over 30 years of experience, as well as in Systemic Therapy and Family Constellations, she holds a degree as Master Trainer in Organizational Constellations from Infosyon. She is an Advanced Practitioner, International Teacher and Researcher of Theory U and Social Presencing Theatre, as part of the Strategic Team and Consultants staff of Presencing Institute. She works as a Systemic Consultant, Trainer and Coach, integrating the intelligence of “head, heart and hand”.
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